A/N: Okay. So this is my first multichapter fic. This idea came to me a few days ago. Basically, I asked myself what would happen if Melena actually loved Elphaba?

I tried to keep it mostly bookverse, but I have not read it in a while, so please correct me if I am wrong. And understand that some things will be changed, because the fic is AU, and I plan on including some elements from the musical as well. Also, bare with me, I know Melena seems a little (or a lot) out of character but I need her to see reason. So just go with it.

Without further ado, my fic:

Chapter 1:

Seeing Reason

"Tonight. We will do it tonight. After everyone is asleep. No one will know." Frex was frantically pacing back and forth, muttering things that barely made any sense to his wife. His clothes were in disarray and he was sweating nervously despite the obvious chill.

"What do you mean tonight? Tonight what?" Melena cried, suddenly afraid at what her husband was contemplating. Surely he didn't mean…no, of course not.

Frex stopped his pacing and bent down next to his wife. Her hands in his. His eyes boring, pleadingly, into hers. He was desperate.

"Melena, darling. We simply cannot keep her. She's…. she's a sin! A horrid, retched creature with fangs and claws. She's a monster! Surely you do not wish to keep her." He laughed bitterly and without a trace of happiness. He looked over his shoulder to the bundle of green that sat in the corner in a basket.

There lay his 7-day-old daughter wrapped tightly in a blanket with mittens taped to her hands and a muzzle-like contraption over her face to stop herself from any form of accidental self-mutilation. The claws he could live with. Maybe even the fangs. But the green skin?! People were sure to talk. Or worse. Maybe she was a punishment from the Unnamed God!

"So, tonight? By the river across town?" Frex looked at her pleadingly. It would have made her life so much easier to just say yes and let him take their baby daughter to the river for a nice, long swim. But the thought of her child being…killed was horrific. She may have been cruel but she was not heartless.

The green skin was tolerable. It was not so disgusting after the fifth or maybe twentieth viewing. Actually, there were times when her skin seemed to glow in the moonlight and accentuate her tiny features. But did the child have to have fangs? And claws as well?

Frex spoke of their child as nothing more than a monster. But that wasn't true. She saw tiny glimpses of hope and love in the child; like she could speak with her deep, searing eyes.

"Frex…I…No. I don't think so." He stood up then; furious at her refusal to dispose of their little problem. He turned back to her with blazing eyes.

"Melena. What do you think they will say? A minister and his wife giving birth to a greenchild? They will be sure to ridicule and cause a scene. They will think she is conceived of sin! You must listen to me. We need to do away with her. And soon." He spoke in terms where there was no room for questioning. His decision was final and she not to dishonor him. Melena looked away in defiance as he walked to the door.

"I will be gone for a few hours. When I get back we will decide on a plan of action." With that he walked out the front door.

Melena walked slowly and quietly to their newborn child that lay in a messy heap in the corner.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered. Her eyes, unwillingly, watering. She carefully picked up the baby that curled into her chest. Wanting desperately to be held.

"Shhhh…It's ok." She said. Not even the least bit repulsed by the fangs and claws.

She pulled the baby away and decided to bathe her for the first time. In oils, of course. That was another oddity about their daughter. She was seemingly allergic to water; another proof of evidence for Frex to pick apart and use as more reason to kill their child. After racking her brain to find a way to clean the baby she figured cleansing oils would work. She had been correct.

As she set about collecting the few things needed to wash and dry the infant she thought about her own parents. Her mother was never there, leaving her in the care of her nanny. She never really saw her father who was always away on business. Her mother never did anything with her or for her. Nanny was the only one who cared. She didn't want to be that way. She desperately wanted to change her ways and be a better mother to Elphaba than her own mother was to her. She wanted her daughter to know what a mother was and how true, unconditional love felt.

She did not want to become a murderer.

Quickly she picked up the baby and put her slowly into the empty tub at the foot of the bed. Carefully she set about taking off her mittens and her muzzle. She traced the outline of the baby's face and cheeks. Gliding her fingers through her dark, wispy hair. For the first time she looked at her baby girl. Looked past the skin and noticed the vulnerable, needy baby who only wanted to be touched and loved.

She was no different than a regular, normal colored baby. The only difference was the fact that she was quiet. She barely cried when she was born and never more than whimpered or grunted when she needed something.

She gently brushed the oiled cloth all over the baby's body, caressing her as she washed her. The girl was in bliss at finally being touched. Her eyes were practically ablaze with happiness and content. Her fangs and claws where no longer an issue; she barely opened her mouth or outstretched her hands when she was given such divine attention.

"So sweet, baby." Melena crooned as she finished bathing the child. She lifted the baby from the tub and wrapped her tightly in a towel and hugged her to her chest in a protective, motherly way.

"I can't do it." Melena said to no one in particular. She could not support her husband's rash idea to kill her child. In a sudden moment of tenderness, Melena looked down into her daughter's eyes.

"I won't let it happen. I promise." With quick, decisive movements she set about to cloth the child.

"We have to hurry Elphaba." She spoke as if she were talking to a grown adult. When in actuality, her mind was reeling with ideas on how to get out of the house before Frex could return.

After she got Elphaba dressed she pulled out a bag and began to fill it with as many preservatives as possible. Food, water, oils, bottles of breast milk for the child, diapers, clothes, blankets, anything that they could use to keep warm in the cold weather.

After she changed into thicker clothes and wrapped an extra blanket around the baby she went about collecting as much money as she possibly could. She found a stack of bills underneath the mattress as well as in Frex's study. With more than enough to get to the end of Oz and back she picked up the baby and walked out the front door.

Oz only knew where they were going to end up.